Chairman’s blog Thursday 25th July 2024

Holidays and other previously advised commitments by members had created a low turnout possibility which I’m pleased to say was not fulfilled. Despite apologies for absence, there were eighteen members present with Shannon Savedge subbing for Clara Downton. Although there was no sunshine to greet us spirits were not dampened.

The Performance League

With the month well advanced Howard Bullock is out front with 209 points followed by Stuart Smallcombe and Jane Malyon.

Education Presentation

Nick Cooke was this week’s presenter who opened up with the indication that he had been reviewing previous presentations and wanted to revisit his suggestions in relation to the 60 second round. Our fundamental objective should be to state who we are, what we do, and the work that we are looking for. Whatever references we make to current work, we should always maintain this basic content. We should also not try to cram too much in. At risk of being oxymoronic, keep it short and to the point. He then illustrated with the example of his own presentation.

The 60 Second Round

Toby Acton was the adjudicator for this week and he therefore kept his own presentation short and simple. He is a business mentor. Nick Cooke no doubt approved!

Some of us were into ‘anticipation’; Melissa Jackson had to anticipate the signs of financial distress with her clients to enable her to hopefully assist in preventing insolvency. Brian Painter was anticipating how he would deal with a lady who had a fear of flying but had never flown, She had been influenced by a father who would often questioned how something as big as an aeroplane managed to stay in the sky. Paul Corrigan amongst other things deals with water softeners which anticipate the harder water of this part of the country in sharp contrast to Cornwall. John Hammond was able to use technology whilst away from his office to help him anticipate whether or not he could switch the intruder alarm off and technology helped him check that there were no intruders

Blake Hammond delivered his presentation from a seated position due to the fact that he has hurt his back. He disputed that it arose from an airsoft event. However he was not deterred from seeking to persuade us to purchase camping equipment for this summer.

Chris de la Prida attempted to make mouths water with two 7 night deals in five star hotels in both the Algarve and Turkey.

After his head slot nick Cooke rose to his feet And following his own advice kept it short and effectively repeated the illustration he had previously given us. He was finished well within 50 seconds which probably made it a memorable 60 seconds.

Stuart Smallcombe felt that he could help businesses that are concerned about flexible working. Get your communications right and you will get your workplace right, however far-flung.

Dave Roberts, as is frequently the case, wants to test systems and managed to illustrate the need with some particularly moronic examples.

Andy O’Neil .produced a useful list of the sort of businesses that might have premises that could use his services. The key to all of it seemed to be a need to manage said premises.

Jane Malyon as always produced something mouth-watering for us. This week the ‘scone of the month club’. This service ‘does is what it says on the clotted cream carton’.

Shannon Savedge was this week’s winner who might have caught Toby Acton’s attention because she was sitting next to him but in fact because she was making reference to fellow members who had helped the business when it was in dire need.

10-minute presentation by Paul Booth

Always good for a departure from the norm, Paul Booth’s Bio sheet was a tribute to chat GPT and perhaps a warning that AI can be quite tedious. His presentation however was a quiz which, as is often the case, illustrates why we need the services of the particular person presenting it. Paul’s quiz was no exception

Paul Corrigan has stepped up to the plate and is running the Olympics sweepstake. How this will work is beyond both my comprehension and patience in trying to complete this blog. Suffice it to say he had plenty of takers and I’ve got rowing and weightlifting.